Car-door



*(No Model.) v

G. J. FERGUSON.

GAR DOOR. No. 356,307. F/y- Patented Janv. 18, 1.887.

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GEORGE J. FERGUSON, OF GREENVILLE, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-EIGHTH TOEDWIN F. STAHL AND SAMUEL BRANTHOFFER, OF SAME PLACE, AND ALMER L.DOWNER, OF PITTSBURG, TEXAS.

CAR-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,307, dated January18, 1887.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE JoNEs FEE- GUsON, of Greenville, in thecounty of Hunt and State of Texas, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Gar-Doors, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention is an improvement in cardoors, and has for an object toprovide a simple construction by which the door in its open I and closedpositions may be pressed firmly in against the side ot' the car, and bywhich the door maymore perfectly protect the contents of the car fromthe weather than the doors ot' ordinary construction; and the inventionconsists in certain features of construction and novel combinations ot'parts, as will be described.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side view of a portion ot' a car providedwith my improvements. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of aportion of a carprovided with my improvements, the door being shown open in full linesand closed in dot-'ted lines. Fig. 8 is a detached vertical section online .fc x, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the central stop.Fig. 5 isadetailed section drawn through the rail D, the stop E, therear projection, F, and a part of the door when the latter is in aclosed position. Fig. 6 is a sectional view drawn through 3o the rail,the projection F, and a part of the door when the door is between openand closed positions; and Fig. 7 is an inner side view of the stop E,showing thesame in connection with a portion of the track.

The car A has doorfopening a, and is provided at the edge l of saiddoorway with a stop-bar, B, which has its face b beveled inwardly fromits outer to its inner edge. The door G has its front edge, c, beveledto tit the 4o beveled face b, and such parts close tightly together whenthe door is shut. Below the doorway a, and extended in rear thereof, Isecure the track D, which has its ends d d tapered or inclined graduallyinto the side of 4 5 the car, forming wedges. The end d is arranged atthe edge 1 of the doorway, while the end d is arranged a distance beyondthe opposite edge equal to the width of the door. The end d of the trackis also bent upward toward its extremity, as shown, in order to elevatethe 5o front edge of the door when the door is closed, and this inclineupward of the track,together with an incline on the center stop,present-ly y described, serves to force the door upward and form a closejoint at the top.

Track D supports the door by straps F resting therein, and provides ameans of sliding the door to open and closed position.

Vithin the track,midway between the ends el d', I arrange the centralstop, E, having in- 6o clined or wedge-shaped faces e e', extendingtoward, respectively, the ends d d of the track. This central stop islocated at the edge 2 of theY doorway, and is preferably formed of asingle casting having the wedgefaccs e e and the stop portion e?. at thejuncture thereof. The stop also hasa beveled or inclined face, e3,arranged above the face e', and inclining upward from the outer to theinner end of said face e', so that it will engage the hanger projectionof the 7c door and elevate the outer edge of the door when the door isclosed.

The door C has at its opposite edges hanger projections or straps F F,which project below its bottom, and are then bent or turned down withinthe rail D, and the part on which the bottom of door rests slides on thetrack D, and engages incline e3 and end d. For convenience of reference,I term these the front7 and rear projections. l The construction andarrangement of the rear hanger projection, in connection with the railand the stop E, are shown most clearly in Figs. 5 and 6,.

In Fig. 5 the door is shown closed and pro- 85 j ected upward by theincline e, Thisincline, as shown in Fig. 7, starts on a level with the ftrack D, and then rises above said track.

In Fig. 6 thc position of side of car, track, and door is shown when thedoor is between 9o open and closed position.

vThen the door is closed, its iront and rear projections will engage,respectively, the end d and face c', and in the open position of thedoor the projections will engage face e and g5 end d. In both open andclosed positions, therefore, the door will at its lower and top edges bepressed firmly in and up, forming a very tight joint, and preventing anyjarring of the door; but while moving between either of these open orclosed positions the door will have free motion, as the downwardprojections of F F can :nove outwardly to the rail or track D, andstraps F F when moved i'roin closed position will move down to thenatural level of track D.

At its upper edge, the door is tapered or inclined upward l'roin itsfront to its rear side, and such edge slides in ano\\'erhangingguidestrip,G,having a beveled face, g, corresponding to theedge 3 ofthe door. In rear ofslrip G, I forni anupwardly-projectedgroove or way, Lt, extended longitudinally in a horizontal line, or inline with the direction of movement of the door.

Upon the inclined edge 3 of the door I secure a plate, ll, ol:` metal,resting flat against the said edge, and provided at its inner side withan upwarally-projected tlange, l1, which' slides in the groove or way 4.Thus it will be seen the plate serves to guide and retain the door atits upper edge, and sheds the water iiowing down the outer face of thestrip G, preventing such water from passing down the joints between theplanks Yt'orining the door.

By arranging the strips G and B above and at the edge l ofthe doorwayand incliuing the faces thereof, which are engaged by the door to forniinclined bearings, the door will bind in tightly at both its front andtop edges, when the wedge constructions force it inward and upward atits lower edge as the door is closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claiin as new isl. rlhecombination of the carhavingguidestrip G, having face g, and providedwith'au upwardly-projected groove or way,4,the door,

and the plate H, secured on the upper edge of the door, and having aflange, h., slidingin way 4, substantially as set forth.

2. rIhe combination of the rail D, having' its ends d d inclined inward,forming wedges. and provided between said ends with the wedges e e', andthe door having projections iitting within the rail and engaging saidwedges in the open and closed positions of the door, substantially asset forth.

3. The car having a doorway and provided at the edge l and above thesame with inclined bearings, combined with the door having its front andtop edges fitted to said bearings and wedge constructions for forcingtheloweredge of the door inward against the car, substan.

tially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the track having its ends Z d bent inward,forming wedges, and the door having projections F at its lower end,tting within said rail and engaging the ends d d', of a center block, E,secured within the rail midway the ends Z d', and formed withwedge-faces e c', substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the car having a doorway and provided above thesame with a way and below it with a track forthe door, ot' the door andwedgesurfaces for i'orcing the door upward in the closed positionthereof, substantially as set forth.

GEORGE J. FERGUSON.

Ni t n esses l. B. TURPIN, SoLoN G. KEMON.

